It had been a few days since Trigger and the others had begun their time in Firmatha Sanguar. Trigger had spent all but a few moments in this rather large, luxurious room. Like everything else in Firmatha Sanguar, it was a seamless blend of nature and technology. He had spent most of his time on the couch in Zac's bedroom. Surprisingly it was more comfortable than his own bed back home.

Zac had been out cold the entire time. Which was surprising at first. However, he was informed that it was mostly because his shedding had started. Apparently the shedding process itself took a great deal of energy. His fighting Vaerros just exacerbated things.

The Twins and Sage had come by every day after they had finished their lessons. This gave him time to rest himself. Zac wasn't in any real danger, other than the random kitsune housekeepers coming into the room, trying to seduce him. Trigger was sure that they might have tried something on the slumbering Zac. Once again, the Twins and Sage were in the room with him.

"How were today's lessons?" Trigger asked,

"I've more or less grasped the principle of the Mytherian Language. I will begin accessing Vaylora tomorrow." Sage answered.

"I can help you with that if you need it." Trigger responded.

"I'll keep that in mind." Sage smiled.

"We made a translator for Mytherian on day one. We have been trying to access this Vaylora for the past few days. Zidane got close; I don't know what's going on." Roisin said.

"I'm sure you'll get it." Trigger responded.

"What?! You're not going to help me, you bastard?!" Roisin grabbed Trigger by his collar.

"Nope…" Trigger smiled at Roisin.

"What, are you still mad about being late yesterday? Get over it!" Roisin declared.

The following day Roisin and Zidane didn't come to relieve Trigger of his duties; they went exploring through The Citadel, leaving Trigger waiting for over 4 hours.

"Don't be so petty; this is about survival!!"

"You'll be fine." Trigger said, turning his head away from Roisin, who let go of Trigger's collar and marched away upset.

"Trigger…"

"If she really needs help, I'll help her." Trigger cut off Zidane before he could reason with him.

"Oh, no, I was going to tell you to never help her. I'll help her… for a price." Zidane smiled, and Trigger and Sage began to chuckle.

"So what are you going to do today?" Sage asked Trigger.

"I don't know. I don't want to go too far away from him until he wakes up." Trigger said as he looked over at Zac lying there.

"Then I guess you should get the hell out of here and live your life, huh?" Everyone turned their head towards the bed; even Roisin came running in from the other room.

"The big bastard really packed a punch. How long was I out?" Zac asked.

"Two and a half days," Sage responded.

Zac nodded his head in understanding. He looked down at his forearms; the scratch was still there, and the cracks around it had become a little more pronounced. It was also turning gray. Zac groaned.

"I've never been ashy before in my life; now I'm being forced to." Zac joked as Zidane and Roisin giggled.

"We'll have to wait about two weeks until they've verified the information about Heka's locations. Also, they have put together an initial task force for you to evaluate." Trigger relayed.

"Alright, let me gather myself, and I'll go give them a look over. I can take care of things from here. So you kids have about 2 weeks to enjoy yourselves. So get out of here." Zac got out of his bed and began to stretch.

"So where do you want to go first?" Sage asked Trigger. He was the only one who didn't really have the chance to get to explore the Citadel at all. Even during his break from watching Zac, he was never too far away. Trigger thought about it for a while and then said,

"I want to go see my mom." Trigger chuckled.

"Understandable. You want to go there now?"

"Yep…" Trigger responded.

"I'll go ask Sylvaira how to—"

"No need for that. I haven't been sitting here doing anything for the past few days. Wanna come with me?" Trigger asked as he held out his hand to Sage.

Sage looked at Trigger's hand and then looked over her shoulder at Zac. He looked at the two of them and said,

"Why are you two still here? Just go already." Zac smirked at the two. The Twins had hi-tailed it out of there the moment he told them to, and he didn't want to see these two awkwardly flirt with each other.

"Let's go." Sage smiled as she grabbed Trigger's hand, and the two of them disappeared as Trigger tore through space.

After all the kids had left, Zac looked over his shoulder towards the corner of the room. His pupils turned into slits, and he nearly growled as he said,

"Veydris… What do you want?" Zac asked.

"Oh, my goodness. I didn't think you'd spot me. The other one never noticed me." An illusionary mist faded away, revealing the 6th Seat.

"I was just making sure that nothing happened to you while under my hospitality. If the other Gteju noticed me, I would have no reason to remain here. But as you can see, he clearly doesn't have a clear enough grasp of his abilities yet."

In truth, before Zac's shedding had begun, he would not have noticed her presence as well. Ever since he woke up, he seemed to be more sensitive to everything around him. All of his senses seemed to be in overdrive. All of them except for his sense of touch. He was numb all over his body, maybe just a bit itchy.

"I assume you're not just here to watch me sleep?

"Of course not. I will guide you to meet the first members of your task force. They are all young, talented individuals who have personal ties to all the Seats. Please take care of them." Veydris walked up to Zac and handed him a stack of clothing. Zac began to strip, expecting Veydris to leave. However, she stood there unashamed and gleefully watched.

"Thank you for the show."

"Heh." Zac ignored her and continued to change his clothing. They had prepared a simple yet elegant suit for him to wear. From the style, he was sure it was something picked out by Zyvaroth.

"I hope I got the size correct," Veydris commented.

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"It fits well enough. Take me to see these 'kids.'" Zac said sarcastically, knowing full well these "kids" were probably well into their 80s at least. He tossed the necktie that came with the suit aside and began to follow Veydris.

"Have you decided on a name for your task force yet?" She asked,

"Hmm, Somnavar." Zac smiled as he mumbled to himself.

Trigger and Sage appeared in the living room of a luxury Akasaka apartment. To their surprise, his mother appeared behind the two of them before they had time to react. She wrapped her arms around Trigger.

"Oh, Kenji… I thought you were someone else."

Sage was still in shock by what she just witnessed. She was fast and quiet. Sage wasn't sure if that was just her physical abilities or some kind of power she had unlocked. Roratha, Kenji's mother, turned Kenji around and then gave him another hug. She hadn't heard from him or his father for over a week at this point, so she had no idea what was going on. She looked over to see Sage and then said,

"Ah, you must be Akiko, right?"

"Uh, no, ma'am…" Sage responded respectfully, feeling a bit awkward by the surprised look on her face.

"Aiono, what's going on?" Roratha asked.

"It's a long story." Trigger sighed. His mother then guided the two of them to the dining table.

"Well, tell me while I make you some tea."

Trigger and Sage spent the next hour explaining the entire situation to Trigger's mother. She sat there in silence as she took everything in.

"You don't seem too surprised," Sage commented as she looked at the calm expression on Roratha's face.

"I was already aware that Zac was Dragon. I was there when we first encountered his mother. Vorvagoth, she was and still is the most dangerous creature ever encountered on this planet, and it's not even close. The form she took was as beautiful as it was terrifying." Roratha recalled as she gripped her cup of tea.

"A massive Red Dragon, with black feathered wings, and a crowd of red and black feathers. The wind pressure from a swipe of her tail reduced dozens of our finest to a bloody mist. She devoured several others with a single snap of her maw." Roratha shivered a bit and then said,

"She caused untold devastation but never moved from her resting position. That's the kind of being a dragon is, and now you're telling me my son has been turned into one?" Roratha lowered her head and then began to giggle.

"Marvelous!" She looked up at Kenji with a wide smile on her face. She didn't really care that her son had fundamentally changed species; she was just excited that he turned into something that stood at the apex of the food chain. She just wanted her son to be safe.

"So what should I call you then?" Roratha asked, a little sad.

"Whatever you like is fine." Trigger smiled at his mother.

"I always wanted to give you the nickname Ono… so I will." Roratha began to giggle and then turned her attention over to Sage.

"So, Miss Chiba…"

"Ume is fine, ma'am," Sage responded.

"Ume, then. How do you feel about my son?"

"Mom! I have a girlfriend!" Trigger interrupted.

"I'm just curious; it's not uncommon for powerful warriors to have multiple lovers." Roratha smiled at her son.

"Did Dad?" Trigger raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm…" Roratha smiled at her son and took his teacup away from him as she headed towards the kitchen. That smile sent shivers down my spine. She'd probably have killed any woman who dared… and his father with her.

"Why don't you two go out and play for a bit while I make dinner?" She said as she started to put on a cooking apron.

"Are you sure? You don't want any help?" Trigger asked.

"No, I'm sure you don't want to spend all your free time talking to an old woman. You all have a difficult task ahead of you, even for you Dragons. So enjoy yourselves right now." Roratha commented.

"Alright, we'll be back later." Trigger motioned for Sage to follow him, but she took the lead.

"I know a fun place nearby. We'll be back in about an hour, Mrs. Suzuki."

"Take your time. There's no need to rush." Roratha smiled at them as they left. After they closed the door, she let out a sigh and glared out of the window.

"I need to take out some trash first anyway." She then vanished from sight.

"I have eyes on Trigger and Sage; they just left her apartment. I'll begin tailing them." A man in a renegade cloak spoke over the coms. From a rooftop overlooking the area. Before he would have time to trail Trigger and Sage, his body became stuck in place.

"I'm going to need to talk to your manager." Roratha's voice echoed as she stepped through space and stood over the Chaser.

"Hmm… for your getup, I suppose you are only Selistar's toys. Get him on comms immediately." She commanded as her apron fluttered in the wind running over the empty rooftop.

"You think I'd…"

"Shut up, and stop stalling. I promise you your teammates won't be of any help. In fact." With a snap of her fingers, 4 other Chasers appeared on the rooftop. All five of the Chasers had confused looks on their faces. Just a moment ago, they were all preparing to engage Trigger and Sage, and now they had been transported against their will and were bound by some unseen force.

"What the hell are you?" One of them spoke.

"Selistar didn't tell you?"

Just then a screen popped up in front of one of the Chasers, and Selistar's (Devin) face appeared in front of her.

"Roratha, a pleasure to see you again."

"Wish I could say the same. I don't like seeing your toys stalking my kid. And where is my husband?" She asked.

"You don't understand the situation, Roratha."

"I understand it perfectly fine. Your father, in his infinite wisdom, made a foolish choice. It wouldn't be the first time. And as always, his choice will lead to chaos." She sighed.

"Granted you are mostly correct, Zac intends to kill my mother," Selistar explained.

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean, is that all?! That is my mother!! Your friend!!" Selistar! Shouted.

"Yes, she is a dear friend, but if her life will quell the rage of a dragon that's lost its mate and child, I say that's quite the bargain." Roratha chuckled.

"D-Dragon? Zac's a dragon?!" The Chasers there shouted in shock.

"They're real? Shit!" Others responded.

"What do you mean… Dragon?" Selistar muttered to himself.

"You didn't know? They call themselves Gteju, but yes, we know them as Dragons." Roratha began to laugh.

"You work so hard to protect them, and they won't even share the smallest bit of knowledge with you. Pathetic."

"Regardless, letting him kill my parents is out of the question." Selistar regained his composure.

"And letting you stalk my kid is also out of the question." Roratha reasoned.

"He's my subordinate that has gone rogue!" Selistar shouted,

"You think I, an Oathbreaker of all people, care about that?"

"Roratha, you know I and many others don't look at you that way." Selistar's voice softened. Roratha let out a sigh and said,

"Well, your father does, and these days his opinion is the only one that matters. Also, the kids told me of their situation. From my understanding, you are playing fast and loose with your own rules."

Selistar stood there silently for some time before he asked,

"I take it you won't work with me to bring him in peacefully?"

"No…" Roratha replied flatly.

"Even though I have your husband's life in my hands?" Roratha tightly gripped her fist. Her face glazed over with a cold stare.

"Do what you will, I'll do what I must."

"Damn you, woman." Selistar cursed.

"I have a question. I understand why you can't get rid of my son, but the girl that's with me. You've come too far to be pretending you care about your protocol. Why haven't you disposed of her yet?" Roratha asked.

This time it was Selistar's eyes that glazed over. He had a cold stare that gave even Roratha a momentary pause.

"I already tried…" Roratha's eyes widened at Selistar's candid response. She then began to chuckle.

"Seems they haven't trusted you for quite some time."

"I figured…" Selistar groaned in annoyance.

After the incident in Lapland, in his frustration he tried to enable Sage's kill code, but it failed. He was sure the Twins had done something. He scoffed as he looked at Roratha. This conversation was going to go nowhere.

"Release my Chasers, and I will have them disengage from the area."

"Why does that sound like a command and not a request?" Roratha asked.

"Because it is a command. You won't help bring in your son to protect your husband, fair enough. But are you willing to kill these five if it means that he dies?" Selistar reasoned.

At his word, the Chasers began to feel the air around the quake as if it was about to crumble. She quickly calmed herself before she waved her hand and released them from her control.

"Don't worry about us getting out of here as fast as possible, ma'am." One of the Chasers spoke.

"I know…" Roratha waved her hand again, and the five of them vanished, all of them scattered to unknown corners of the world.

"It's been a while since Ono has had my curry; I'm sure he'll enjoy that." Roratha took a step, disappearing through space.

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